The Lost Queen by Heidi von Palleske
It’s rare to read a story which manages to handle full lives like that, instead of focusing only on that which serves the primary story.
Mystery
Why I Wrote This Book: Issue #61
Featuring Maria Giesbrech, Jane Doucet. Adriana Oniță, and JoAnn McCaig.
The Girl in the Cellar by Natalie Carter-Giles
The only problem is, The Girl in the Cellar, ended on a cliff hanger (fitting for where it took place) that works as great a marketing ploy to ensure one gets the next one as soon as possible. The difficulty is that it isn’t published yet!
Lotus Detective series: Bind (book 1) and Melt (book 2) by donalee Moulton
Bind is the first book in donalee Moulton’s new cozy mystery series, Lotus Detective. Kristi Yee is part-owner of Vitality+, a gym overlooking the Bedford Basin in Halifax. Inside the gym is the Asana Yoga Studio, where she holds yoga classes. Her business partner, Jaxx Taylor, runs the gym and handles the finances, while Kristi …
Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josee Poisson, Translated by Flora-Lee Bendit
Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josee Poisson is a work of historical fiction that reimagines the life of Madame de Pompadour, the chief mistress of King Louis XV.
Morgan’s Castle by Jan Hilliard
Less consciously literary and considerably more pulpy than Laurence, the Jan Hilliard novel Morgan’s Castle (written by Nova Scotia-born Torontonian Hilda Kay Grant), suggests an alternative CanLit tradition to me—our dime store authors.
Ten Crows for a Time of Joyous Bliss by Vernon Oickle
Now he is just days from graduation, and things are once again going off-kilter. Alex has noticed an increase in patients coming into the hospital who are victims of violent episodes.
Strangers at the Red Door by Dennis Bock
During his stay, he takes the reader on a roller-coaster journey through the eyes of a Westerner witnessing life under oppression in places like Hong Kong and mainland China, where teenagers play with drones, yet banned books are smuggled into the country.
Operation Betrayed by Helen C. Escott
“Every woman has value, and we deserve to have our murders investigated and solved and our killers locked away.” – Sister Pius
Tim Brown Mysteries by Jan Fancy Hull
It’s 1999, and Tim Brown is taking an unprecedented sabbatical from editing the South River Times to delve into the connections between his many communities: the newspaper, the church choir, the local diner, the Chamber of Commerce, even the Nova Scotia Legislature. His mix of canniness and naiveté – he inherited his job and rarely leaves South River – makes the character complex enough to keep readers engaged.
A Quilting of Scars by Lucy E.M. Black
There is a mystery to uncover situated in the detailed life on the farm during the late 1800s. Black’s flair for writing superb and timely dialogue keeps the reader planted in this time and space.
A Place of Secrets: A Northern Gothic Mystery by Shane Peacock
A follow-up to As We Forgive Others, A Place of Secrets does well as a stand-alone while honouring the characters and premise of the book that came before it.
Why I Wrote This Book: Issue #48
Featuring Bruce Hunter, Sean Minogue, Ivanka Fear, and Callista Markotich
Death on the Caldera by Emily Paxman
Paxman is a whiz at threading this complex and evolving history into a recognizably Christie-esque formula, whether it’s Death on the Nile or A Haunting in Venice.
